I was working until I became very sick in August. As I had just recently changed jobs and had only been at my new job for a few weeks, they couldn't pay me SSP so I put in a claim for ESA. In the meantime my husband was signing on at his local Jobcentre but not receiving any payments. Then out the blue, he started receiving just over 50.00 a fortnight. We were shocked and couldn't understand why he had started receiving payments for 1. He had always been old he hadn't paid enough NI Contributions. 2. We were in receipt of WTC and 3. Because of my part time wages. He receives Carers Credit which have been helping to build his NI Contributions. I have had several problems with JSA for several months now. When he started receiving these payments, I informed him this couldn't be correct. I made several calls to JSA stating I felt he shouldn't be receiving payments and asked why. Each time I spoke to an advisor I was told a different thing. Several months ago they had also started asking for my wage slips which my husband was taking into his local Jobcentre and which the Jobcentre have on their system. Not only was he taking in my wage slips but we were also sending them by 1st class recorded delivery. I have called them several times and written letters of complaint asking for a Manager to call me back. I have had no reply to any of my letters. They weren't even acknowledged. As I had suspected all along, the payments he had started to receive in August was their mistake and they are asking for over 400 pounds back. This should not have happened in the first place. He wasn't entitled to any JSA payments as (being Tunisian) and being in UK since 2010, we were informed he hadn't paid enough contributions hence the reason why he had never received any payments until JSA started paying him this year (August) out the blue with no letter of explanation. All this has had a knock on effect with my ESA claim and HB. It is just one huge big mess thanks to JSA, When I call ESA to find out if there has been any progress made on my claim, I continue to be told different things. Also now that my husband has been in UK since 2010, and now has his ILR and British Citizenship, plus the fact he has been getting Carers Credit for me (to build the contributions) his Jobcentre advisor told him a few months ago he now has enough NI Contributions to be entitled to some payment. She said the only reason he had not been receiving payment was because of my part time wages. I am so annoyed with JSA as this has been now going on for many months ie ourselves and the Jobcentre keep sending documents and JSA keep saying they don't receive them. We are now almost into the middle of October and still nothing has been sorted. I have spent a fortune on calls continuously trying to sort this out which has all been a waste of time. I am registered disabled with several medical conditions and have been going through a stroke since August. Also recently being diagnosed with Diabetes. All this obviously is making me worse. I don't seem to be getting anywhere. I am entitled to CB ESA as I have always worked. Each time I call and speak to advisors, I am continuously being told a different thing and getting nowhere. Again today I spoke to ESA who said I should put my husband on my claim. I am completely at my wits end with everything. When I called ESA last week, they told me they were waiting for my husband's JSA to be processed (which he shouldn't be receiving in the 1st place) I am continuously going round in circles. Because of JSA's mess up it has had a knock on effect with ESA and HB. I feel it will never get sorted out. Currently I receive 125.00 a week WTC but this will stop soon as the job I was working at is closing on 24th then neither of us will have anything coming in as this is just not getting sorted out. I am expecting a callback in the morning from JSA but im sure that again will be a complete waste of time. Im sure they wont us to live on NOTHING!

Hi Im looking for some advice. My husband had an accident in December 2009. The accident was at work so he claimed industrial injuries disablement benefit. He was also in receipt of DLA and ESA. The claim is coming to a settlement at last however the medical expert has said my husband would of became disabled anyway but the accident accelerated this by 12 months. The DWP has asked for benefits back for the first 12 months only apart from the IIDB which they want back in full upto settlement date. The ESA doesnt need to be paid back at all as he started getting that after the 12 months. Now this is where my query is. As its income based ESA the amount we got for IIDB was deducted from the ESA automatically basically making us no better off by claiming. Now my question is would we be able to claim back the ESA under payment once the IIDB has been paid back as it doesnt seem right that we have lost out. many thanks

Hi, I have been on incapacity for a while, for depression and back problems. I have been doing some voluntary work, and tentatively looking for work to get back "out there". Well, I have now been offered a job! I think I am well enough to do it, its not physically demanding so will not affect my back and I think my depression might be less if i had a reason to get up everyday! But how do I get off incapacity benefit? Do I just ring them and say I have a job? And what happens about getting a P45? I will not be financially better off, but I would rather be working and boost my confidence and self esteem. Help!!

I'm currently filling out my housing benefit and have under £23,500 ( which I read somewhere was the cut off ) but reasonably close because I've not been out spending cash on things due to being housebound. 3000 of that is in Isa and the rest - or 15,000 -is in my current / saving accounts at the same bank. Will this be penalised in an way. if I'm between say 18,000 and 23.5000 , and if so what are my options ? thanks again , mike

Hi All My mum is 61 years old. She is a widow and stays by herself in a housing association property which she pays rent for. 2 years ago she had to stop work as she had developed a medical problem that stopped her from doing her job. She applied for benefit but because she had savings, she was'nt entitled to anything. She reapplied in May this year and as her savings were by then down to £10000 she was awarded £31 per week and had her rent paid. She recently had a review of her circumstances and as a result she had to send copies of her bank statements and a means test form. She received a letter today stating that from May 2013 she was not entitled to any benefits due to an additional income of £500 per month as shown on her bank statements. However this is actually money that is transferred from her savings account to her current account every month that she uses for living. This was confirmed by the expenditure form she had to complete. She telephoned them to explain this and also confirmed that her savings were now at £8000. She was told that she was only allowed to withdraw £33 per week as the government said she needed £74 per week to live on. It was also suggested that she was withdrawing her savings in order to get more benefit as the less you have saved the more benefit you get. This is absolutely absurd. She is due to get her state pension on the 6th November. She is sick with worry that she will next receive a letter telling her that she has to repay everything she has had since May. Can anyone offer some advice. Many Thanks Neil

I'm currently in receipt of ESA (WRAG) after having to leave my job a few months back due to medical reasons. I'm doing a OU degree and volunteering but would really like to start earning some money again. As my health is pretty up and down I figure something I'm able to do at home would be ideal. I'm very artistic and a friend has offered to give me her kiln and pottery supplies...I did Ceramics in college years ago so I know what I'm doing. The whole "self employed" thing really scares me though...I would have no idea what I'm doing and would be scared about not earning enough to pay the bills. I'm aware that if I work over a certain number of hours per week I can claim WTC, does this apply to CT and HB too? This would obviously affect my ESA? How is WTC worked out if I have no idea how much money I would be earning...it would all depend on sales wouldn't it? So some weeks I might earn nothing at all, whilst others could be hundreds. It really would be luck of the draw. I am aware of a couple of shops that would be interested in stocking some of my stuff, I know the owners...but this would be me getting paid when they sell the item, plus they'd take commission. The idea is very appealing...getting away from DWP would be great for a start and working at my own pace would really help health wise. I'm just worried about how they'd work out how much rent/CT and WTC I'd have to pay/receive if I don't know how much I'd earn. Do you have to "earn" a certain amount per week to be eligible or is it based on hours? How does the self employed tax stuff work? I'm aware I can earn up to 10,000 per year without having to pay tax, but I still have to file them, right? Receipts for everything...If I'm selling online, what info would the tax people need? Invoice printouts? How does the "money earnt" thing work...Say for example I sell £5000 worth of stuff in 12 months...but I spend £1000 on new materials and £500 went on shipping/packaging...that would mean I only earnt £3500 or do they count what your expenses/out goings are as income? Stuff like firing the kiln would be around £4 a go, that would be expenses? Like I said...no idea how it works. Any thoughts or advice would be appreciated. Thank you.

Hi I just wanted to ask if anyone has had the same problem as myself. I left the forces in 2002 after serving 22years, I ran my own business for 8 years but the recession took hold and I could not carry on any longer due to cashflow etc. I managed to get paid employment until the company went bankrupt about 16 months later and I am now unemployed. When I first lost my job I went to the job centre and registered etc, however, when I explained that after 22years of service I was now in receipt of a military pension, £540 per month, I was informed that I was not entitled to claim a penny. No job seekers allowance, no assistance with rent etc, nothing. Surely there must be a way around this as we just simply cannot survive on this amount of money. I am married and have one dependant child. We are living with my in laws at the moment which is far from perfect. Please don't get me wrong, both my wife and I are looking for work as we always have done but there just seems to be nothing about at the moment. Can anyone offer any advice please?

Hi all, Just got a letter from council yesterday, our rent will now be £43.78 short per week which we are suppose to make up to pay our private landlord, £175.12 + £50 we were already adding to the rent shortfall we were entitled to. Total £225.12 per month to add to cover our rent, its a complete joke, that amount is the amount I receive in JSA for us. Now having to move out within the next 4 weeks, if we can find somewhere smaller or cheaper. Anyone know anything about Working Tax Credits, looking at going self employed as that is exempt from this benefit limit, Start up will be slow and possibly only earn £30/£50 a week selling new computers on EBay (only a small profit on each machine after fees and paypal). Anyone have any advice regarding claiming working tax credits? I am currently on JSA but going through the motions to try and claim New Enterprise Allowance for self employed and this is a very slow process, this letter only gives us 4 weeks to find the £225 for our rent and we will be very short on our £650 rent if we can't sort something out. George

I was wondeing if someone could help. I moved to the Netherlands just over a year ago. I am disabled and so is my husband. My husbands support was cut ten per cent so we have been below minimum wage. Because of this and a language barrier, I would like to move back to the UK. Only I don't have an income or a home to go to. Would I be able to receive support? and how would that work bringing my husband?

I'm new to this forum so I hope I'm doing this right. My mother passed away a couple of weeks ago. She was well organised and made sure her affairs were in order. She made a will and made sure there was enough money in the credit union to pay for her funeral. When I went to the credit union with the death certificate and the will I was informed that it would take between 6 - 8 weeks to sort out. I was also told that even though she left the money to me in her will the money would go to the person she named on the nomination form and they couldn't tell me who that is. This seems to me to be a very long time to sort out is this normal?

I would really appreciate anyone's assistance and understanding in a very distressing time for myself and my three young children aged five, three and two. I was in receipt of income support and in July 2011 i was called in to my local Jobcentre for an interview under caution as it had been alleged "that i was living with a partner" the interviewers were a representative from the D.W.P and a representative from my local Council. At the interview, paperwork was produced from the representatives. The paperwork was that of the father of two of my children where he had fraudulently used my address to obtain credit because of his serious gambling problem of which i explained at the interview. on the 7th September 2011 a decision maker wrongly decided that the father of my childrem was living with me when he was most defiantly not from 11/07/2008 to 01/04/2010 and from 30/03/2011 untill the end of my claim, my income support ceased from the 4th October 2011. on the 29th September 2011 i received a letter stating that owe £22453.23 when i received this letter i actually passed out from the shock of such a concerning letter when i knew that the D.W.P had made such a terrible mistake. I also requested on this date for the second time any alleged evidence to be sent to myself as i had only a limited amount of time to appeal the above decision. On the 6th October i sent an appeal form to the relevant department with still not having received any alleged evidence to appeal this incorrect decision with an attached letter,again asking for any alleged evidence. On the 11th October the father of my children sent a letter to the appeals department detailing that he has never nor does he currently live at my address and categorically stating that he has fraudulently used my address to obtain credit. On the 19th October 2011 i sent a letter to the appeals department asking for my appeal to go tribunal service and again requested for any alleged evidence and i also mentioned about my health deteriorating. A letter dated 29th October 2011 was received by myself advising me that the appeals dept had received my appeal. A letter dated 2nd November 2011 was finally received by myself,nearly two months after the decision was made, asking me to fill out a a form to request my alleged evidence of which i filled out and sent back on the 10th November 2011, not allowing myself to refute the alleged evidence before i had to sent back my appeal. On the the 7th January 2012 i received a letter stating that my appeal had been sent the tribunal service i thought finally my case would be heard by the tribunal service and i would get some closure on the matter. On the 28th February 2012 i wrote a complaint, how long it had taken to sent my appeal papers to the tribunal service and i also quoted the customer charter for the d.w.p ( Right treatment, right result, on time and easy access) Stating that the customer charter had not been followed. I then received a letter dated 8th March 2012 stating that a the original decision was revised on the 6th march 2012 James by changing the dates stating from 11/07/2008 to 01/04/2010 and from 26/04/2010 to 03/08/2010 and from 11/10/2010 to 08/02/2011 i was not entitled to income support and therefore the tribunal service sent back my original appeal as it was not for these dates. I then Received a letter dated 12th March 2012 from a customer service manager regarding my complaint on the 28th February 2012 stating that my appeal had been sent to the tribunal service on the 7th of January and to await for contact from the tribunal service. On the 21st of March 2012 i then wrote a letter back stating that i had not heard anything from the tribunal service and asked her is she could chase it up of which i received no reply. On the 28th May 2012 another decision was made, changing the dates yet again to 01/09/2009 to 01/04/2010 and from 26/04/2010 to 03/08/2010 and from 11/10/2010 to 08/02/2011 and from 30/03/2011 to the end of my claim, delaying my appeal again going to the tribunal service. I have provided evidence that he has not lived at my address and does not, in my original appeal in October 2011 and my last appeal dated 14/06/2012 * Letter from his Grandmother stating that he stayed at her address. * Letter from his Freind Stating that he Stayed at his Address * A letter from my mother stating that he Stayed with my now deceased uncle to help him with his daily tasks as he was terminally ill. * A copy of my Son Birth Certificate stating his address at an army barracks when he was in the army. * My daughters Birth Certificate giving his address as his Grandmothers address as mentioned above. * A letter from himn stating that he never lived at my address in great detail. * A letter from Barclays plc Stating that he never lived at my address. * A copy of my bank statement to prove i paid for all the shopping during the time the D.W.P are claiming for. Myself and my children were nearly evicted from my home on the 11th July 2012 for non payment of my mortgage, as myself and my children have been left destitute and if my brother and credit companies had not lent me money, myself and my children would be homeless and starving by now. I was also taken to court on the 17th May 2013 on two charges of benefit fraud one by the Council and one by D.W.P as a result of this accusation and i was found NOT GUILTY of all charges. I have applied for Income support twice since this started once on the 28th June 2012 and was told i am not allowed income support until i declare i have changed my circumstances and declare he no longer lives with me, when he never did. I am not going to falsely declare something as this is fraud and so i was not granted income support. I have applied again for income support on the 28th May 2013 and again have been told the same. A week after my trial when i was found not guilty i received a letter from the D.W.P stating i now owe £16327.19 when i received this letter i was physically sick. the Council have now dropped everything and reinstated my council tax benefit and my single persons occupancy for the period concerned and stated in a letter that on the balance of probabilities he was not living at my address. The D.W.P have now finally submitted my appeal to the tribunal service and i have been advised it can take up to 11 weeks for my appeal to go to tribunal. I have now exhausted all my money borrowing options and owe and considerable amount of money and don't know what else i can possibly do. I recently got admitted to hospital with severe abdominal pains and severe vomiting, my white blood cell count is high and high amylase in my blood. They performed an ultrasound to investigate and could not find any abnormality, my consultant said he believes the reason is severe stress and anxiety and my blood should go back to normal when the stress is over. As you can appreciate this process has been going on for nearly two years in July and i have been without financial assistance since October 2011, myself and my three children are experiencing exceptional hardship and have been for a long time and as you are now aware my health is deteriorating and that in itself is having a negative impact on my children

My mother has a small work's pension that she has been getting for 6 years, it was actually my deceased father's and now she gets 50% of it for him, she's currently 61. The pension used to be £87 a month and the government were taking £20 but it's now £51 and they're still taking the amount from it, but that's not the point of the post. For weeks now her benefits have been being reduced/ cut off temporarily, and putting her into rent arrears with the council. The DWP have asked for information on the pension, and she has given it to them time and time again. The pension switched from one company to another at one point, around the time the trouble started, and she has handed them letters. She gave them a letter from the original company saying that the pension was being transferred to the new one. She gave them a letter from the new one saying they were taking over the pension. She's given them P60's and an assortment of information. This has been an on-going thing for a month or more now. They're now asking for a pension statement, which she has never had even once for the pension and have cut off all of her benefits, including housing. She's been to citizens' advice, she's explained the situation to the housing department and managed to settle one set of rent arrears(more incoming, now) and she just can't seem to get through to the DWP the exact details of the pension that is causing so much problems. She has no more information she could possibly hand them, and they still inquire about it. She feels as though they suspect she has more money coming in than she does, and can't seem to make them understand that all she is getting is £51 a month from it. All the income she has had is ESA, Housing benefit and that pension. She's been told she isn't entitled to income support or any other additional support. Does anyone have any suggestions for what she could do next?

My Single parent daughter (now with 2 boys) was made redundant a couple of weeks after she returned from maternity ( another thread on here:evil:). Since then she has been chasing all the gov /council departments for here benefits/credits etc , there has been a ridiculous amount of delays/backlogs in getting this resolved and its still on going. So My question is : .. during this time she has spent her meager redundancy pay and some family borrowing just keeping the council house and associated payments going, Should she not have her benefits backdated to the time of her original claims,( which is the 4th Feb this year), to get all or some of this money back ? . take care all .. Chris.

Hi all, advice needed urgently, I am posting for a friend, her situation is this, May 2012 she fled Domestic Violence, the council tennancy was in her sole name but her ex would not vacate the house, Housing Benefits was temporarily paid in her absence for 52weeks. She was then giving a new council tenancy at a different address. Because of all the domestic violence she started to abuse alchol quite heavily and now has the chance to go into Rehab for 6 months. My question is, will her Housing Benefits be paid whilst in Rehab as she wants to return to her new house. I know they normally pay Housing Benefits in this type of situation for up to 52 weeks, but as she has already received this for her previous address would they still pay it for her new address. Any replies would be appreciated, thanks in advance.

Hello, I am 19 years old and a student. Today I received a letter in the mail concerning an IUC dated for August 6th. To explain this benefit fraud; I lived alone from March 1st 2012 - September 10th 2012 and failed to contact the Council. The reason for this was because my father (who set up my flat and also Housing Benefits) told me not to worry about anything and he will sort everything out, it appears he failed to do so. I was receiving £127 a fortnight (to pay my landlady) and was receiving this up until last month AFTER moving out, to my absolute horror. This totals a £2540 overpayment. I KNOW that this is my responsibility 100% and I have explained this whole situation to my mother who will accompany me in this IUC. To conclude this, I would like some advice on what to expect, I am worried sick and cannot eat or think about anything BUT this. I've done a lot of research but I understand that I cannot compare cases. What should I expect and what advice can some of you give me? I really don't want this to hinder my future as I am only 19 and soon to move to attend a new University and hopefully begin my life. Thank you all very much!

While searching for a relationship between "Income Protection Insurance" and claiming DWP benefits I came across this link. http://www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/dmgch28.pdf It shows what income is taken into consideration when applying for benefits. However I can not find anything regarding "Income Protection Insurance" payments being taken into consideration when making a claim for benefits. UNUM are a big provider in this area and influence the DWP. It would seem pointless for an employer to have Income Protection Insurance in place for employees if they did not benefit from the monthly payment and were actually penalised if they were paid. It is my understanding that the payment can be either monthly or an annual lump sum. If employers never opted for Income Payment protection for their employees companies like UNUM would soon go out of business so it would be in the best interest of UNUM to advise the government to disregard these payments?. Perhaps some one with a better understanding can advise if Income protection Payments are taken into consdieration by the DWP when calculating benefits?

I am new to this site so apologies if I have posted to the wrong thread. I really need some advice as to where to go from here. I had around £60,000 in debts on credit cards and loans, which I have been paying off through a DMP with CCCS for the past 6 years. during this period. I had to leave my job due to distance and hours (worked in London, lived in Kent but initially reduced my hours to enable me get back in time to pick children up from after school, but the benefit people wouldn't cover my childcare expenses because the hours worked were under the threshold to qualify). My partner works and covers the bills and mortgage payments each month. we both claim working tax credit but as this is a joint claim, I put the figure of the whole claim as my income on my DMP. They (CCCS) asked me to include my partner's financial details on the claim, but I refused as the debts were incurred before I met him so debts are solely in my name and he does not want to be a part of it. I have tried explaining to CCCS that I am just on benefits and it is just a struggle to continue with the current arrangement but they have implied that the only option is bankruptcy. I have paid around £25,000 to date and have about £35,000 left. It is estimated that I probably will still be paying this off for the next 20 years. The mortgage is in my partners name and I don't have any assets. The company that my hubby works for are due to relocate in a couple of months meaning that he will soon be out of a job although he is actively looking for work. I really don't know what to do, any advice will be appreciated. Thanks

Hi all, At present I'm out of work, and claiming JSA. I've been out of work for just over a year, during which time I went back to college and studied to become a Personal Trainer. Having gained my REPS 3 qualification, I have been putting the feelers out for a job in a gym, and struck lucky recently.... ...I've been offered a job in a local gym (plenty of facilities).....the start date will be 2 weeks Today The only thing that's 'niggling' me is that it's self-employed. The reason it's niggling me is because I've never been self-employed before, and so was looking for advice. The thing is, as the job will be paid on the consultations and sessions that you can get from clients, there will be no initial base for any income. The first 3 months at the gym will be rent free, allowing me to concentrate on building my client base, without any overheads (in the business). So, as I'm gonna be earning nothing at the beginning, I was wondering if any of you could help me/advise me as to whether I'd be entitled to any particular benefits. Thanks in advance, Dave

I need a wee bit of advice. I went down from full time hours to part time hours and now need to look at becoming a full time carer to my mother who has vascular dementia. I moved in permamently with her two years ago and rented the house out, The rental income I get covers the mortgage, insurance and gas contract, and that is it, My mum gets attendance allowance. I keep running into obstacles to try and get to the bottom of what i would be entitled to. Jobcentreplus are unsure as to really what happens when someone has a house they rent out, They mention IS and contribution ESA but i cannot take the plunge without knowing for sure. I am not sure where to turn to fin out. Any help really appreciated

Hi hope someone can offer some advice, my daughter is a single parent of two boys, up until last year she successfully held down a job and looked after the boys, then stress and depressions became too much as one of the children has behavioural difficulties, she went on sick leave from work and in April this year was finished from work on ill health grounds. It has taken a few weeks to sort out housing benefit and council tax benefit and money for her and the boys, in a ll the time she has provided sick notes from the doctor stating she was unfit for work. She then had an appointment to go see a DWP doctor and and the resultant letter stated that she was not entitled to sickness money, so she appealed, housing benefit has been suspended along with council tax benefit and she has only £100 per week to pay everything including rent and C/T, she is tearing her hair out and is worrying herself into an early grave, At the same time the youngest child , although bright, is having difficulties at school, can't read and write and as said previously has behaviour problems, the school psychologist is involved along with the school and support workers and he is waiting to be statemented, as she says she couldn't currently work even if she was fit as she has appointments at school, with social workers etc etc, Is there anywhere she could get any additional money from during this appeal time?

Hi just found something from a former colleague who works at the CAB It seems that if you are part of a couple and NEITHER WORKS and one claims a contributory benefit instead of a means tested benefit I.e JSA and means tested JSA you can argue that the difference between what you receive on JSA(Cont) say £70 wk and JSA(IB) say £110 =£40 Wk difference plus tax Ben say £20 wk which means £60 WK you have not claimed therefore you can legitimally reduce your capital by £3000 per year in theory there is supposedly case law to confirm it but he can't find it I think it sounds about right what do you think

Hi I get ESA (income base) I had declared capital of £5000 which I have spent ( balance £13.65 now) in a the year after claiming the Benefit I now am getting an inheritance of £9000 ( I accept this will affect my ESA) but will it be added onto the original balance or will it be counted as a new capital amount I think as the original amount is disregarded I cannot be said to have deprived my self of income from the original amount what do you think thanks in advance

My daughter currently resides in a supported living placement funded by housing benefit and gets full IB/DLA high care/low mobility, the placement is breaking down and she's dreadfully unhappy, something with more structure was recommended by social worker and this would have to be residential care which actually will suit her Autistic Spectrum Disorder. What would happen to her benefits, I was told she would keep her mobility allowance and another £28 a week for essentials like clothes the rest going towards the care home, or do social services totally fund the care package and any benefits would stop? Thank you.

Hi All, hope some kind person can help me, my husband receives JSA and also claims for me, we receive 112.60 weekly along with HB and CTB, up until last week I also received child tax credit and child benefit for him, this has now stopped as he has reached 20, he still has another year to complete at college and the only money he receives is a bursary of £110 every 3 months which pays for a bus pass to travel to and from college which is over 3 miles away. We are not in a financial position to be able feed and get essentials for the 3 of us on that amount of money we get weekly, my son has been trying to get a part time job for over 12 months but most ask for experience, he took up voluntary work to gain retail experience but so far hasn't received any replies from jobs he has applied for, he will be applying to go to uni when his course finishes next year, Sorry its a bit long winded but trying to explain best I can,

Will try to explain as best I can. I have 3 children technically living at home. The eldest is 17, at college and we receive lower rate DLA for him due to his rather severe learning and behavioural difficulties. Clearly because he's over 16 it goes into his bank account and I take it to pay for his odds and ends, (in theory the bits he breaks when having a paddy etc) We also get some Housing Benefit, some Tax Credits and his Child Benefit. Nearly 2 weeks ago he steamed out of home and has refused to come back so far. There is a girl involved and I'm pretty certain when it fizzles out he'll be home. He has a contract mobile that I pay for so he is in contact sporadically, when demanding I give him money or take his stuff to him (which I have refused to do). I think he's living in a flat with a known drug user. I can't be 100% sure. I know they've been served with an eviction notice which they're fighting. I'd consider him 'vulnerable' but Social Services don't agree with me. Clearly, if he doesn't live here I can't claim his benefits, however I'm pretty certain he'll be home within 6 weeks. How long can I wait before informing the appropriate agencies before I start committing fraud? If I give it another 2 weeks would that be ok do you think?